Man muss den „Trumped Store“ in Show Low nicht betreten, um zu sehen, wem der Inhaber bei der Wahl im November die Daumen drückt. Vor dem Eingang flattern Trump-Fahnen einträchtig mit amerikanischen und israelischen Flaggen im Wind. Die großen Fenster sind ausgefüllt von Trump-Plakaten aus dem Jahr 2016. An den Wänden hängt ein Banner, das fordert, man müsse „Trumps Amerika“ zurückerobern. Eine Leuchtreklame fordert unter dem Namen Trump dazu auf, sich „dem Widerstand“ anzuschließen – „Join The Resistance“.
Wer den Laden betritt, wird von einem Pappaufsteller empfangen. Da steht Rambo mit AK-47 im Anschlag. Doch anstatt des Gesichts von Sylvester Stallone sitzt der Kopf von Donald Trump auf dem muskulösen Hals. Von links lächelt Steve Bannon – der frühere Chefstratege von Donald Trump – von einem Poster. „Lächle, es ist Rino-Jagdsaison“, verkündet er. Damit sind mitnichten die grauen Vierbeiner aus der afrikanischen Savanne gemeint, sondern Republikaner, die nicht auf der Trump-Linie liegen, solche, die angeblich nur dem Namen nach Republikaner sind („Republicans In Name Only“). Nach rechts öffnet sich die Verkaufsfläche. Es gibt alles, was das Herz eines Trump-Fans höher schlagen lässt: Tassen, Magnete, T-Shirts, Mützen, Flaggen, Aufkleber, Postkarten und vieles mehr. Ein Paradies für Trump-Anhänger.
Keine Verbindung zur Wahlkampagne
Hinter dem Kassentresen sitzt der Mann, der den Laden betreibt. Von seiner Brust blickt grimmig der frühere Präsident. „Ich wähle den verurteilten Straftäter“, steht auf dem schwarzen T-Shirt mit dem Trump-Konterfei vor der amerikanischen Flagge.
Steve Slaton himself is anything but grim. When you speak to him, he looks up with alert eyes from beneath his short gray hair, welcomes you into the store and first shows you his latest product: tiles. It shows the picture that went around the world after the shooting of Trump in Pennsylvania. Trump, blood on his face, raises his fist to the sky, the American flag flies above him, and three Secret Service bodyguards try to bring him to safety. A tile costs $20. He says he had to buy products with this image the day after the attack. The customers would have demanded that.
Slaton, 70, has been running the store with his wife for eight years. Initially it was the Trump campaign headquarters in Show Low, says Slaton, and that evolved into the “Trumped Store,” which has no connection to Trump or his campaign. The shop is still more than just a sales outlet, it is also a place to meet like-minded people and exchange ideas – a kind of republican information exchange.
The store may be a haven for Trump supporters, but it also attracts opponents. A few years ago, Antifa wanted to attack the shop, Slaton said. However, he was warned. He called together the “local militia – not actually a militia, just good citizens”. For eight nights, 15 men, some armed with assault rifles, stood guard in front of the store. So nothing happened.
He and his wife came to Trump from the Tea Party movement, says Slaton. In 2009, this was a reaction to Barack Obama’s economic policy, which was viewed as too spending-oriented. At first it was primarily libertarian, but then drifted into right-wing populism. From there it wasn’t far to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.
Slaton sees many problems in America. He complains about what he believes is an open border with Mexico. As border commissioner – a title and a task that the vice president never actually had – Kamala Harris ensured that many illegal immigrants came into the country. Now there are more rapes, more child pornography and more drugs in the country. He also saw illegal immigrants in Show Low and called the police. That’s why the border needs to be closed, says Slaton.
The other big problem is inflation. Everything has become more expensive: rent, food, gas. He also notices this in his shop. People still come to him, but they spend less money than before. He is convinced that Trump will make everything better.
Slaton wanted to enter the House of Representatives in Phoenix for his MAGA movement. That didn’t work. He was defeated in the Republican primary by a local opponent. “We put up quite a fight,” says Slaton. Although he appears relaxed, the defeat seems to be eating away at him. Maybe it’s because he lost to a Mormon. “It’s not a church, it’s a sect,” he says. There are a lot of them in his constituency, and he is certain that they hate Trump. “They probably won’t even vote in November.” But he’s had enough now: “It cost me a year and a half and a lot of money. Younger people should do that now.”
Slaton tried to get involved in other ways too. After the 2020 presidential election, he said, he wanted to check the results. He recruited volunteers and had them trained according to the state’s specifications. He then had ballot papers brought and the volunteers looked through them. Ten percent of the ballot papers were incorrect. Above all, the signatures on the slips did not match those in the voters’ register. “Trump would have won in a landslide,” Slaton says. The election was stolen, he repeats the conspiracy story spread by Trump without any evidence. They also took their results to court, but were rejected. “The courts somehow don’t want anything to do with the elections,” he sighs. In fact, American courts have dismissed cases brought by hundreds of Trump supporters. Some for technical reasons, but most for lack of evidence.
Show Low and the surrounding area is Trump country. Four years ago, the former president was 54 percentage points ahead of his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. The town with around 11,000 residents is located at the southern end of Navajo County. The election result there was much closer. Trump only had a lead of 8.3 percentage points. That’s why the election outcome against Kamala Harris this year is not a foregone conclusion, says Slaton. He hopes, he says, that there will be no violence after the election. “Unless the election is stolen again. Then everything is possible.”
“The Democrats want to monitor us all”
Around 280 kilometers south of Show Low, Robert Scott shouts a cheerful hello before returning to his smartphone. He too is surrounded by Trump shirts, flags, hats, stickers and much more. But while Steve Slaton’s shop looks like a store from the outside, here it looks like a house you’d see in western films: bright colors and a wooden porch in front of the house. You almost expect to see a man come out the door with a wide-brimmed hat, dusty clothes and jingling spurs on his cowboy boots. But the sign above the entrance shows that this is not the Wild West. It says “Trump Store – Tombstone, Az.”
Tombstone is the site of an American legend. In 1881 there was a fight here between Wyatt Earp and his brothers on one side and a few cowboys on the other. Three cowboys died in the hail of bullets. The name was given to a livery stable not far from the actual crime scene, and so it became “The Shooting at the OK Corral”. She became immortalized in numerous books and films as a symbol of the struggle between law and order and lawlessness in the Wild West. Revolvers still ring out there today when the fight is reenacted for tourists.
The shop just outside of town also pays tribute to its location. On the sign above the entrance there is not a normal photo of Donald Trump, but rather he is shown with a large black hat and a shotgun. His mouth is open wide, as if he’s about to let out a battle cry. The shop probably also owes its customers to its location, because without the tourist attraction hardly anyone would get lost in the middle of the desert 40 kilometers north of the Mexican border.
But, says Robert Scott, his customers come from all over the world: “Some are real Trump fans.” The fact that Scott is one of them is shown by his red “America First” cap. A gray beard stretches around his mouth and his legs protrude from beige shorts. He’s wearing a black T-shirt with a picture of George Washington and a statement that the first president of the United States certainly never made: “Me and my homies would have started killing people a long time ago.” “been stacking bodies by now”).
Scott is actually quite sociable, talks calmly but with conviction. For example, that he used to be liberal and didn’t like Trump. For him it was an out-of-touch billionaire from New York. At some point he saw a video on YouTube that opened his eyes. It was about comparing the images that the TV channels showed of Trump and the real images. Then he realized that he was being manipulated. He says he woke up and “freed himself from hatred.”
He doesn’t like what he sees now – especially on social media. The Democrats and liberals wanted to destroy the country, he says. One means is to open the borders. There are now 20 million illegal immigrants in the country. He welcomes Trump’s promise to deport many people: “Bring it on,” he says. Legal migration is fine, but people have to learn the language and what it means to be American.
In addition, you can easily take action against illegal migration. You just have to give the countries from which the migrants come enough money so that they can help themselves and the citizens no longer have a reason to flee from there. But that doesn’t work because there are “controllers” – whom he doesn’t specify – who want there to be poor and rich countries so that they can make profits themselves.
The Democrats’ ultimate goal was clear: the introduction of communism in America. Everyone should be monitored, ideally completely using electronic means. That’s why the government is also promoting the sale of electronic cars. Any resistance should be recognized and suppressed immediately: “You said something that we don’t like: no food for you for a week,” is how he describes this dystopia. He brushes aside the objection that this sounds like a dictatorship and not necessarily communism: “That’s the same thing for me.”
Warning of election fraud
Even the fact that one of the most famous Trump supporters, Tesla owner Elon Musk, would benefit from such a techno-dictatorship does not challenge him. He and other Trump friends from the tech industry care about the well-being of humanity. “If Musk hadn’t bought Twitter, there would no longer be freedom of expression in this country today,” he says, grateful to the billionaire. He is less inclined to other big earners: “Corporations that make big profits must be broken up. “The power has to be in the hands of the people,” he says.
He is confident about the presidential election in November. He is convinced that a lot of blacks and Latinos will vote for Trump, “I see that everywhere on social media.” Trump will “win a landslide victory. Even though there will be attempts to steal the election again, like four years ago,” says Scott. Maricopa County – the district with the capital Phoenix – has always been Republican. It is impossible that it should suddenly go to the Democrats. The 2022 gubernatorial election was also manipulated. The current governor, Democrat Katie Hobbs, oversaw her own election in her role at the time, he says, implying fraud.
Scott is interrupted by customers who want to take a photo of themselves with a cardboard cutout of Donald and Melania Trump. This happens all the time, says Scott. People are very grateful that the store exists. A woman thanked him and cried. “I’m doing God’s work,” he says.
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